p>
May 3,
2008: Australia has joined the United
States, Sweden and Canada as users of the Excalibur GPS guided 155mm artillery
shell. Australia has ordered 250 of the Excalibur shells, and 28 electronic
fire control devices for its M198 towed 155mm howitzers (which do not, like all
self-propelled, and most towed, artillery, have this fire control gear build
in.)

American
and Canadian troops have begun using the Excalibur shell in Afghanistan earlier
this year. A year ago, American troops began using Excalibur in Iraq. This was
just timely, because Islamic warriors tend to use civilians as human shields,
and that means you have to be precise when you go after the bad guys with
artillery. A typical situation has enemy gunmen holding out in one building of
a walled compound or village. In nearby buildings, there are women and
children. While killing the enemy is good, killing the civilians can be a very
bad thing. Smart bombs should be able to fix this, except that sometimes one of
the smaller smart bombs, the 500 pounder, has too much bang (280 pounds of
explosives).

A 155mm
artillery shell should do the trick (only 20 pounds of explosives each), but at
long range (20 kilometers or more), some of these shells will hit the
civilians. That's because at that range, an unguided 155mm shell can land up to
100 meters from where you aimed it. This is where Excalibur comes in handy. The
GPS guided Excalibur shell falls within a ten meter circle (the middle of that
circle being the "aim point") no matter what the range. After a year of use in Iraq, the troops find
Excalibur invaluable for hitting just what you want to hit, and with a minimal
amount of bang.

For most
nations, the drawback is cost. A "dumb" 155mm shell costs under a thousand
dollars, while one Excalibur costs up to $150,000. But when you take into
account the civilian lives saved (and good will retained), it's a different
story. Moreover, friendly troops can be closer to the target when Excalibur is
used, meaning your infantry can get into the shelled target quicker, before any
surviving enemy can get ready to shoot back.

The
Excalibur shell is worth it in other ways. Ten 155mm shells (of any type, with
their propellant and packaging) weigh about a ton. Ammo supply has always been
a major problem with artillery, and Excalibur is the solution. With Excalibur,
fewer 155mm shells have to be shipped thousands of miles, and looked after
until they are used.

Excalibur
was developed in the United States, in cooperation with Swedish engineers, The
Excalibur was originally supposed to cost under $50,000 each, and with more
being produced, the per-shell price will fall. Currently, 150 Excaliburs are
being produced each month. Developing electronics and control systems that fit
inside a 155mm diameter shell, and survive being fired out of a cannon, proved more
difficult than expected. That's why a GPS guided smart bomb only costs about
$30,000, while the first hundred or so Excaliburs cost a lot more.

Developing
smart artillery shells is risky. The U.S. Navy recently cancelled a project to
develop a similar 127mm shell, and is now looking into adopting the Excalibur
technology for a GPS guided 127mm shell that works. Smart shells are a nice
idea, but getting from here to there is a risky process.

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